The New Suit: Part 1
by Rhadiox 2.0
Summary: Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox work together to create a new suit the Batman can use in his war on crime.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Batman.**

**This story is a little more technology based. It's the first part of a series of shorts that have to deal with the creation of a new suit. It also explains the relationship Bruce and Lucius have. You'll see a lot of the Nolan films influence in this story. Enjoy.**

**~Rhadiox**

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><p>Tricorner Yards was on the south end of Gotham City located in the Tricorner district. It was one of the largest shipping yards on the eastern seaboard and was one of the major sources of income in the early years of Gotham City's birth. Hundreds of ships of various sizes arrived and departed every day. Tricorner Yards was always alive and bustling with some sort of action going on, and this made it the perfect place for the Batman's workshop. A location with so much activity going on would deter anyone from the idea of the Batman having a workshop here; the best place to hide is in plain sight.<p>

The entrance to the workshop was a large shipping container that was registered under a subsidiary of Wayne Enterprises. Inside the container were crates and other objects to make someone investigating think that it was simply an ordinary storage unit; however, the shipping container was far from ordinary. In the back of the container was a metal crate; a usual casing used to house important materials. This box, however, was not hollowed out on the inside. On closer inspection, the faint outline of an unlit screen could be noticed. A remote key was needed to activate it and then the screen would glow blue. Any member of the immediate Bat Clan would simply need to place their hand on the screen and let it run a scan. When the system recognizes the hand print, the screen would shut down again and a hidden elevator would rise from the bottom of the storage unit. The elevator would then travel down 289 feet and arrive in the the workshop area. The workshop was a large well lit white room. Seemingly empty, the room in fact housed the tools and prototype gadgets the Batman developed for his crusade on crime. Tables and cabinets would rise out of the ground when pressure sensor was activated on the tiled floor. Bruce Wayne was currently working on a terminal ballistics machine which was designed to fire a variety of firearm rounds into an object to test its durability. Bruce pressed a code into the side control panel and the machine started up with a loud whirring noise. Then six slightly separated loud bangs came from inside the machine. Bruce went over to the computer terminal to look at the results. The results were not to Bruce's liking.

"Dammit!" Bruce growled and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

A panel on the wall slid away and an elderly African American man casually walked in. "Is there a problem, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce smiled and walked over to his long time friend. "Lucius." The two men shook each others hands and they both walked over to the computer.

"I've run the test on several different materials," explained Bruce. "But I still haven't found anything suitable."

The elderly man put a gentle hand on Bruce's shoulder. "Here. Let me take a look." Lucius walked over to look a the computer monitors. The main monitor was divided into two areas. On the left side was the results of the ballistics test and pictures of the area the bullets impacted. The other side was the diagnostics and the information on the current testing material. "I see, you've gone through each of the standard armor plating materials."

"Yes, but the material isn't enough for what the suit needs." Bruce said and pulled up another window showing the specifications on the armor currently used by the United States military. "Today's standard plate for the Interceptor body armor is made of boron carbide backed with a shield made of Spectra. Those plates can survive three hits from a caliber up to 7.62x51mm NATO M80 ball shot from a muzzle velocity up to 840m/s. I need it to be able to handle at least twice that. And simply doubling the density would weigh the suit down too much for any decent response time. Restrictions in movement are something that cannot be afforded."

"Well, Mr. Wayne. The military isn't known for making things comfortable or easy. Besides I think I have just the thing." Lucius walked over a ways to the wall and pressed a pressure sensor on the wall to eject a display table. On the table was what looked to be a slightly thicker than normal black wet suit.

"Sorry Lucius, but I think I need something a little more sturdy than a wet suit."

Lucius chuckled. "Mr. Wayne, it may indeed look like a wet suit, but it is far from being weak." Bruce raised an eyebrow and Lucius continued. "This suit was part of a line of prototype full body armor. It was originally designed for military use, but..."  
>"But it was too expensive." Bruce finished the sentence and smirked.<p>

"That seems to be the trend to most of our past military products. The suit is made up of layers; the inner most being your standard Nomex insulation to regulate a comfortable temperature in almost any condition. The armor layers are carborundum plating on titanium-dipped tri-weave fibers."

Bruce took the suit in his hands and frowned. "It's great Lucius, but it's still too heavy."

Lucius winked. "I thought you might say that. If you would come over here, I'll show you something that should solve the problem."

Bruce followed his old friend back to the computer and Lucius brought up another window that took up the entire screen. "What is it?" Bruce asked.

"This, Mr. Wayne, is the blueprints for a new product the boys are working on in WayneTech. It is called Project: Beyond. It's a powered exoskeleton, the thinnest of its kind. It's being developed as a way for those who are physically disabled to be able to move again. The idea is that it could be used as a therapy tool to get people back on their feet, so to speak. The exoskeleton isn't one whole suit, mind you. Sections are made to deal with certain functions. However, a full body exoskeleton could be created to suit your purposes." Lucius could see Bruce was intrigued.

"How exactly would this help with the suit though?"

"Well, Mr. Wayne; the exoskeleton scans the body at all times to monitor how much power is given to the person. It compensates for the lack of strength and balances it out to a normal person's ability. With a few tweaks here and there, I'm sure the system could enable the user to multiply their strength and speed by two. So instead of being able to only pick up 1000 lbs as is your daily routine warmup if I'm not mistaken, in theory, you could use the exoskeleton to lift 2000 lbs. However, doubling the strength is the max amount that could be set without damaging the machine or the user."

"It's perfect Lucius! But could it be integrated with the suit?"

"Of course. It's just a matter of attaching the muscle enhancers to the specified locations."

"Great. How long until it would be ready?"

"It would probably take about a month. A full body exoskeleton has so many components it will take some time to wire them perfectly."

"Alright Lucius. We'll start construction tomorrow," Bruce looked down at his watch. It was almost 9:00 pm. "It's getting late; I should be getting home. I have long night ahead of me."

Lucius cocked an eyebrow and smiled at the younger man as they headed to the underground transport that traveled from the hidden workshop to Wayne Tower. "I'm sure you do, Mr. Wayne. I'm sure you do."

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><p><strong>I hoped you enjoyed it. Remember to R&amp;R and check out my other stories. Thanks a bunch.<strong>


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